Wapello City Council eyes plans for $192K water tower project, moves to increase water rates
Jim Rudisill
for The Hawk Eye
WAPELLO A planned $192,000 water tower repainting/repairing project was the primary focus of the Wapello City Council during its regular meeting Thursday, as the council took four actions either directly or indirectly related to the project.
The initial action by the council was to set a May 20 public hearing on a proposed Water Revenue Loan and Disbursement Agreement that would apply to a loan not to exceed the project’s $192,000 cost.
The council then approved the second reading of an ordinance amendment that will raise water rates to pay for the project loan. Under the amendment, the city’s current residential rate of $9.91 for the first 2,000 gallons of water used would be increased by $2.44 to $12.35.
Louisa County seeks to renew expiring local option sales tax
Jim Rudisill
for The Hawk Eye
WAPELLO An effort to renew an expiring one-cent local option sales tax in several Louisa County local jurisdictions could officially begin as soon as this week, local government officials learned during the Louisa County Board of Supervisors meeting on Tuesday.
The countywide tax originally was approved through two referendums held in 2006 and 2007, with 50% of the revenue raised used to finance construction of a new Louisa County Jail and Sheriff’s Office.
A separate referendum was held in each of the county’s nine incorporated cities and in the unincorporated portion of the county.
Jim Rudisill
for The Hawk Eye
Supporters of a nearly 30-year-old, eight-phase project that would establish an estimated $6 million interpretive center adjacent to the Langwood Education Center east of Grandview met Tuesday with county officials and other interested individuals to discuss the project’s next step.
Al Bohling, president of the Tri-Rivers Conservation Foundation, which has been assisting the Louisa County Conservation Board since about 1991 on the proposed Louisa Interpretive Center, told about 30 people the meeting was intended to provide LCCB members, supervisors and others an update on the effort.
Bohling, TRCF Director Jay Schweitzer and LCCB Executive Director Katie Hammond alternated narratives on the project, using a series of slides showing the progress made on the LIC development.
Columbus School Board moving forward with HVAC, chiller replacements thehawkeye.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from thehawkeye.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Jim Rudisill
for The Hawk Eye
WAPELLO The 240 or so residents of the small Louisa County town of Fredonia have a choice to make either volunteer to serve as a city leader or risk seeing the 177-year-old community become an unincorporated hamlet of the county or possibly absorbed by Columbus Junction, its larger sister community just across the Iowa River.
Current city councilmen Rob Bright and Bob Reid and city clerk Sharon Torres presented this assessment Tuesday to the Louisa County Board of Supervisors during its regular weekly meeting.
The trio said it is becoming too difficult to operate the city because so few people were willing to be a civic leader. They approached the supervisors to learn their position on the unincorporation issue.